Ye Olde Randome Babble Thread - 112

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How to get rid of white fly, should I give it a support or allow it to grow onto the bed above, what the black spots are on the leves, should I dead-head it, what's a good food for it, Would it be possible to add some more to my bed, are there any that have fewer thorns and more stuff that I'm a little too sloshed to remember

 

Roses are red,
violets are blue.
That's the extent I know of flowers
How about you?

 

In other news, it's been so windy today that there's enough dust in the air that you can't see either of the mountain ranges I live between.
I think I'm going to wear my SCBA home today.

 

Heat and humidity are par for the course in the summer here. Right now I'm having problems with temperature shock going from refrigerator cold server rooms to outside heat. I'm literally getting sick from it.
I'd rather deal with the heat truthfully. I am miserable in cold weather, and consider snow a curse word.

 

Ugh, second day that has 36°C (roughly 97°F) and barely a wind. I'm determined to do little but go to a friend to watch Germany vs. Argentina today, and then back home swiftly. You hear sirens all day as they haul people with health problems due to the heat.

On the plus side, I have found a way to use my computer in that heat without having my arms glued to the desk by my sweat: I put a towel on my desk. Far more comfortable now. I'm so clever!

 

Whitefly don't tend to colonise on roses, if you're getting whitefly then they're probably laying eggs on a plant nearby, if you're interested in companion planting marigolds are good with roses as they contain natural chemicals that repel whitefly and similar insects. Some garden centres will sell little ladybird traps/houses so you can get a little ladybird colony, you have to be careful what ladybirds you attract through some chinese species are vicious buggers, but ladybirds have strong appetites and will hunt down eggs and larvae of most pests to eat, if they run out of eggs and larvae they move onto the adults and some caterpillas for meals. (If you want to ensure butterflies in your garden still a small corner growing nettles will give them plenty of egg laying space, put the ladybird colony nearer the plants that have problems and the nettles nearer hardy veg - if you grow any - or out of the way so Ashley doesn't grab them!)

Nettles can also be made into a tea which goes quite a bright pink colour if you add a small slice of lemon which can be novel. Young nettles are high in vitamins and when soaked in water and cooked loose the hairs that cause the stinging.

If you suplement the soil with magnesium it will grow into the plant and deter whitefly as well if this is a longer term consideration, tobacco dust or tea sprayed onto the plant is supposed to be effective as well.

Black spots on the leaves are a fungus, you can get sulphur as a powder or spray to be misted over the plant, the fungus cannot grow properly with sulphur present and the spores cannot germinate stopping the spread of it. You'll have to remove all the diseased leaves beforehand though, burn if possible, otherwise just wrap up and dispose of them, don't recycle them as the fungus doesn't need living material to survive. On an affected plant (and it's neighbours) buy a fungicidal soap from a garden centre and follow the instructions on it to ensure it's cleared up. The sulphur remedy will only be useful after removing the fungus and the soap if it's there. It also washes away with rain so will need to be reapplied to high risk plants. To lower the risk, water at the base avoiding wetting the leaves or water in the morning when it's cool so leaves have a chance to dry off properly before it gets warm and the spores are released.

If the flowers are dead cut the stem from the closest leaves with pruners, if the flowers have already gone to hip then pinch it away. While rosehips can be useful for some things it's a stress on the plant which can prevent it flowering properly the next season.

Different species of rose have different qualities, thorn density, colouration, blooms, budding, spread, trailing, climbing features, etc, there isn't much I can answer further really, most garden centres have selections of rose you can browse, you can get specific rose feeds and some respond better to training than others, some also go woody early on and are a preference in structured growing while some are more pliable for longer so can be moved and trained further on if you change your mind.

 

Time for a new thread on gardening, I think.

 

A thunderstorm ... and it is apparently only getting more humid.

 

Yeah, i think a lot of it has to do with ourselves getting consistently temperature shocked. If you go on a holiday somewhere 100% outdoors, it's not half as bad, your body just gets used to it.
In a normal day though, we flee in cool interiors anytime we can, so we're busted once we have to go out again. Plus you can't really avoid it.

Thunderstorm brewing up here too. And birds stealing my almost-ripe blueberries -.- GAH

 

My appartment is in the basement... hihihi, it's never too hot...

 

Basement housing isn't an option in Florida, or else you wind up with a really nasty underground pool... not to mention soiling everyone's water supply.

 

It's better than soiling your underpants

 

Kev and I were meant to go out yesterday, but we figured out we couldn't afford it with rent on Monday.

So he's out at a stag do tonight and just heading home

 

Hmmm......only a few hours left till I get completely wasted! I'm going to a party that starts tonight, and ends sometime in the wee hours of the 5th. There's no better way to celebrate the independence of my country than getting s**t faced and blowing a part of it up!

If I suddenly stop posting after a week or so, assume I'm dead.... send money.

 

Happy 4th of July to all you [snip] Americans out there.

Tonight I will toast you with a glass of bourbon! And a glass of rye!

[You really should know better by now. Seriously. -Tal]

 

Dunno about everyone else but I see it as my cultural duty to complain about the weather at all times

 

Easy! For the most simple of all reasomns: Because it is hot

And anyway: Air conditioning is unnatural, noisy, tends to be bad on the eyes, an environmental burden and an excuse for not dressing or building according to the locally prevalent climate

 

I don't like air conditioning because I feel, when all the windows are shut, that I'm not a part of the world. I like to hear the wind, people in the street and all that. Plus, with the windows closed, I never know *how* hot it is outside. When I lived with my parents who had A/C, I often went out of the house dressed too much when it was hot or not enough when it was chilly.